When the signs say "OIL SPILL-BEACH CLOSED" this is why. I was heading back from Sacramento when I saw the signs up at the Albany bulb. I'd heard oil had made it east to the Berkeley marina so I stopped at the thin stretch of beach that runs along I-80 just north of Emeryville. I had on my nice meeting clothes, so I put my shoes by one of the tar spots for perspective. I saw about a dozen this size scattered along the beach, and as the tide was on its way out, shorebirds were gathered in the shallow water.

 
This is what my feet looked like afterwards. I was walking carefully between the visible patches, but couldn't avoid the oil altogether. It's these dispersed drops that get tangled up in the wrack of seaweed on the beach, seep into the sand, and sneak their way into the food chain. Luckily, my feet can handle a good scrubbing with Lava soap. Not so much a striped bass.